Apple has officially unveiled the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Pro Max, with John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on 1 September, introducing the latest flagship smartphones at tonight’s launch event.
In India, the phone is likely to be priced around ₹88,999. The iPhone 18 Pro/iPhone 18 Pro Max is to be priced about $100 higher than their predecessors. Compared with earlier generations, the iPhone 18 will likely cost more due in part to a global memory chip shortage.
The new iPhone 18 Pro looks a lot like last year’s 17 Pro, but comes in two new colours: glacier and burgundy. It’s also coming in a larger, “Max” version.
“We made massive advancements in the most important areas: intelligence, performance, battery, and camera,” Ternus said at the Apple launch event.
The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, Ternus said, bring improvements to the battery, camera, and performance.
The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are smaller and have an upgraded Dynamic Island that can support three tasks at once (up from two currently), major new pro camera hardware and software, plus an upgraded vapour chamber.
iPhone 18 Pro delivers the same battery life as iPhone 18 Pro Max, claims Apple. iPhone 18 Pro Max has the largest increase in battery life ever on an iPhone. 36 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro, with 45 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro Max.
For typical use, 18 Pro gets up to 24 hours per charge and 30 hours per charge on Pro Max. iPhone can charge 50% in around 15 minutes, and 5 minutes of wired charging provides 6 hours of video playback.
Apple to launch its first foldable iPhones today.
Many of Apple’s biggest rivals, such as Samsung, Motorola and Google, have already released foldable smartphones. But Apple was never one to rush into new technologies.
“The foldable launch is straight out of Apple’s playbook: Wait for the product to work out its kinks and for the market to offer glimpses of viability, then enter and shape the category,” said Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee. “The difference is that foldables still represent a minuscule share of the smartphone market. The test of Apple’s ambition will be whether it can expand that niche into a meaningful new segment.”
The event, the first with new Ternus at the helm, is the most noticeable overhaul of Apple’s flagship product since the iPhone X removed the physical home button in 2017.
“John Ternus inherits perhaps the most successful consumer technology juggernaut in modern times. That is both a boon and a burden for him. Tim Cook’s perfected execution, scale, and monetization set a high bar, and Ternus must extend that run,” Chatterjee said. “But he must sustain that momentum while positioning Apple to disrupt itself in the near future, when the iPhone, or any smartphone for that matter, will cease to be the consumer’s primary conduit to the world.”
